26 June 2015 (Friday) - Deferents and Epicycles

I woke with a wet nose in my armpit shortly after midnight last night. I thought it sweet that my dog had crept up the stairs. I *should* have taken him back to his basket. I *could* have done so at any time during the night. Instead I lay awake whilst he was restlessly snoring and fidgetting all night long. When he wasn't snoring he was growling and whimpering in his dreams.
He'll sleep downstairs tonight.
I got up shortly after 5.30am and left the bed to him. I watched an episode of "Big Bang Theory" over brekkie then "Toddlers and Tiaras" before checking out the Internet. Overnight Patrick Macnee had died. Famous for having played "John Steed" in "The Avengers" he was the archetypal Englishman. I was therefore rather surprised to find he'd died in his home in California of all places.

I set off for the early shift hoping that the roads would be not so congested as they were yesterday. As the news crackled so my piss boiled. It has been suggested that a struggling NHS might start storing sperm samples from the entire male population because older men are more likely to have various inheritable diseases. As if there aren't enough demands on the NHS already.
The Prime Minister is said to be delighted with the outcome of his talks with the other European leaders yesterday. An odd attitude bearing in mind that the European Council President Donald Tusk has said that there will effectively be no changes made to the entire European set-up.

Once at work I did more than I had planned to. That seems to be becoming a regular occurrence. Over lunch I checked my emails. Regular readers of this drivel may recall I ordered a nice pair of leather insoles for my new shoes a couple of weeks ago and that I received cheapo plastic rubbish instead. the seller didn't reply to my emails so I squealed to eBay's complaints department.
The honchos at eBay have reviewed my whinging emails of complaint and have given me a full refund. It's only a fiver, but it's little victories like this that restore my faith in eBay. I've now effectively got a pair of insoles for free. It is a shame that they are cheapo plastic rubbish insoles, but you can't have everything.
I then left some negative feedback for the seller. I could have been nastier, but I told it like it was - wrong item sent - no response from seller - refund obtained via eBay complaints department.
I wonder if that will prompt a response from the seller. I have had instances in the past where the seller won't respond to any communication but is distraught to get negative feedback.

With my bit done I set off to McDonalds before astro clubbing. Both Jimbo and "er indoors TM" had better things to be doing this evening, but had time for a quick bite to eat. Whatever you are doing, a bellyful of McScoff is always a good start.
And so off to astro club. I didn't get along to the last meeting. I somehow doubt my being there would have prevented the complaints I heard (and received) about that last meeting. I can't pretend my heart was in it as I went along tonight. Attendance was down on the usual turn-out; there was just over thirty people along tonight. I found that disappointingly low.
Mind you the space-news was interesting and Anita gave a really positive short presentation on the role of women in current astronomy and science and society in general. I learned a lot from the "what's current in the sky section" and after I hawked the raffle I settled down for what I had hoped would be a rather interesting presentation on how models of cosmography have changed over the years.
Don't get me wrong; it was a good talk presented with enthusiasm but (on reflection) it wasn't really very different from simular talks I heard at Hastings Grammar School's astronomy club in the mid 1970s.

There were some new people at the club tonight. One had a rather interesting chest.... I hope she comes again...

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